Every now and then, the forces of good and the forces of evil contest over who will rule over Earth. This is decided in a fighting tournament called Mortal Kombat. Since the forces of evil won nine out of ten matches in a row, Raiden summons three warriors to fight for good: Liu Kang, who wants to avenge his brother's death; Johnny Cage, a film action star who wants to prove his fighting skills for real; and Sonya, a Special Forces agent. They board a ship to the island of the tournament. Despite enormous odds against fighters who use magical powers, including a four armed monster, Liu battles and kills the main antagonist, Shang, thereby ending the tournament.
The 4th live action film adaptation of a video game, "Mortal Kombat" relies more on brutality and shock than on creativity and ingenuity, as it was the case with the famed martial arts films by B. Lee and J. Chan. The director Paul W. S. Anderson actually crafts a good picture in the first 20 minute due to a good build-up of mood, mystery and a sense for some stylish scenes involving the play with lights and shadows, though he already experiences a few problems with common sense early on (for instance, in the first sequence in which Sonya is introduced, her SWAT team shoots in the middle of a disco, yet the people just keep on dancing (!) as if that is of no concern to them, when in reality they would all panic). However, once the three protagonists set their foot on the island, they seem to enter the Island of Dr. Moreau: too many of the creatures fighting them (such as Goro, a 10ft tall man with four arms or a ninja who has a metal snake emerging inside the palm of his hand during an attack) are misguided, trashy and more suitable for some horror film. Disappointingly, all the characters are one-dimensional and bland, their only distinguishing feature being how they kick differently during a fight, with the only exception of brightness being Johnny Cage, a refreshingly comical film actor whose humor refuses to take this story too seriously. He is the bright spot of the film. Some of best bits include him trying to exit from a boat carrying half a dozen suitcases, only to spectacularly fall into the water; challenging the undefeatable monster Goro to a duel, only to kick him in the crotch and then run away or commenting Sonya wearing "sacrifice clothes" during the finale ("Nice dress"). Unfortunately, the main hero, Liu, pales in comparison, whereas the 70-minute 'Wrestlemania' becomes monotone fairly quickly, consisting just out of endless fight scenes that seize the attention only through violence, though the film was toned down a bit to avoid going too far with this.
Grade:+
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